Towns in South in dark

SEVERAL Village Councils in the South were left without electricity yesterday, forcing health authorities to rush corpses to nearby towns while clinics were unable to deal with emergencies last night.

The Namibian established that NamPower cut the power supply to Gibeon, Kalkrand and Maltahoehe at noon yesterday. Kalkrand feeds Hoachanas, Schlip, Duineveld, Leonardville and Omamas with electricity.Sources said Witvlei was next in line.’DEADLY’ CONSEQUENCES Although NamPower confirmed that it had cut the power supply to the village councils, it was tight-lipped on the outstanding debts which they say forced the drastic step.The mortuary at Kalkrand, owned by Buys Funeral Services, had to transport three corpses to Rehoboth, while the State-operated mortuary at Gibeon moved bodies to Mariental.”I am sorry to say but all private people must take their dead directly to Mariental until the power supply normalises,” a nurse at Gibeon clinic said.They were hoping that they would not receive any emergencies or baby deliveries after hours.”Any serious cases in the evening are a real problem.I hope that we don’t get them because we can’t work with a candle,” she said.Personnel at both clinics at Gibeon and Kalkrand were concerned about the safety of their medicine, which needs to be stored under cool conditions.The Namibian has it on good authority that Kalkrand owes the power utility around N$72 000 and has made some payments, but not enough to stop NamPower from shutting down the service.”We owe them because the Ministry (of Local Government) does not give us subsidies any longer,” said the acting Village Secretary at Kalkrand.She refused to say more and put the phone down when asked her name.It was, however, established that Anna-Marie Rooi is acting in that capacity.The Ministry of Local Government is aware of the situation.Its public relations officer, Frans Nghitila, said he was still following up on the issue.Minister John Pandeni and Permanent Secretary Erastus Negonga were both out of town.A senior official at the Ministry said all village councils were receiving subsidies for capital projects but were using them for other “purposes”.”They divert the funds for capital projects to operations and pay salaries and other things with the money.They are supposed to collect money for services rendered but are too lazy to do so,” the official said.He said bailouts were definitely not the solution.OFFICIALS ‘LIVING ABOVE MEANS’ “The village councils need to take their responsibility seriously.It is unfortunate that they allowed the situation to deteriorate to that extent.They live above their income but do not want to work to earn their income,” the official said on condition that he was not named.Residents and business owners at the towns and villages were up in arms yesterday.”I have beef, chicken and fish in my fridge.Who will pay my losses? The worst part is that we have had no warning,” said Lucinda Mensah, who runs her father’s businesses at Kalkrand.They own a shop and a bar.The town’s only service station was operating with a diesel generator which could only keep the petrol pumps running.Three corpses were taken in at the local mortuary on Sunday but the owners had to rush them to Rehoboth yesterday morning.A nurse at the local clinic said they might be forced to stop the daily immunisation of children because of the power outage.By late yesterday afternoon, there was no indication when the electricity supply to the towns and villages would be restored.Kalkrand feeds Hoachanas, Schlip, Duineveld, Leonardville and Omamas with electricity.Sources said Witvlei was next in line.’DEADLY’ CONSEQUENCES Although NamPower confirmed that it had cut the power supply to the village councils, it was tight-lipped on the outstanding debts which they say forced the drastic step.The mortuary at Kalkrand, owned by Buys Funeral Services, had to transport three corpses to Rehoboth, while the State-operated mortuary at Gibeon moved bodies to Mariental.”I am sorry to say but all private people must take their dead directly to Mariental until the power supply normalises,” a nurse at Gibeon clinic said.They were hoping that they would not receive any emergencies or baby deliveries after hours.”Any serious cases in the evening are a real problem.I hope that we don’t get them because we can’t work with a candle,” she said. Personnel at both clinics at Gibeon and Kalkrand were concerned about the safety of their medicine, which needs to be stored under cool conditions.The Namibian has it on good authority that Kalkrand owes the power utility around N$72 000 and has made some payments, but not enough to stop NamPower from shutting down the service.”We owe them because the Ministry (of Local Government) does not give us subsidies any longer,” said the acting Village Secretary at Kalkrand.She refused to say more and put the phone down when asked her name.It was, however, established that Anna-Marie Rooi is acting in that capacity.The Ministry of Local Government is aware of the situation.Its public relations officer, Frans Nghitila, said he was still following up on the issue.Minister John Pandeni and Permanent Secretary Erastus Negonga were both out of town.A senior official at the Ministry said all village councils were receiving subsidies for capital projects but were using them for other “purposes”.”They divert the funds for capital projects to operations and pay salaries and other things with the money.They are supposed to collect money for services rendered but are too lazy to do so,” the official said.He said bailouts were definitely not the solution.OFFICIALS ‘LIVING ABOVE MEANS’ “The village councils need to take their responsibility seriously.It is unfortunate that they allowed the situation to deteriorate to that extent.They live above their income but do not want to work to earn their income,” the official said on condition that he was not named.Residents and business owners at the towns and villages were up in arms yesterday.”I have beef, chicken and fish in my fridge.Who will pay my losses? The worst part is that we have had no warning,” said Lucinda Mensah, who runs her father’s businesses at Kalkrand.They own a shop and a bar.The town’s only service station was operating with a diesel generator which could only keep the petrol pumps running.Three corpses were taken in at the local mortuary on Sunday but the owners had to rush them to Rehoboth yesterday morning.A nurse at the local clinic said they might be forced to stop the daily immunisation of children because of the power outage.By late yesterday afternoon, there was no indication when the electricity supply to the towns and villages would be restored.